Methods, Systems and Applications for Porting Telephone Numbers on Wireless Devices

ABSTRACT

The application is directed to a method and system for improving user experience with porting a telephone number to an electronic device. The method includes the steps of displaying a user interface on a display of the electronic device for initiating porting of a telephone number. Upon receiving user information via the user interface associated with the telephone number, it is determined whether the telephone number is portable. If the telephone number is portable, it is transmitted to the electronic device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of the U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/989,260, filed Jan. 6, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,794,401 issuedOct. 17, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. This application also claims the benefit from U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/100,305 filed on Jan. 6, 2015, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes as if fullyset forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 1. Field of the Disclosure

The invention generally relates to methods, systems, and softwareapplications for porting telephone numbers on wireless devices. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to relates to methods, systems, andsoftware applications for porting telephone numbers independent of,during, or after activation of a wireless device.

2. Related Art

Many telephone customers are generally hesitant to switch telephoneservice providers due to the inconveniences, which may stem therefrom.One such inconvenience may include porting a telephone number from oneservice provider to another service provider. Telephone serviceproviders may include, for example, wireless service providers, landlineservice providers, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) providers and thelike.

Porting is governed by the Federal Communications Commission's LocalNumber Portability (LNP) rules. Specifically, the rules generallyrequire that customers can switch their telephone number to a newservice provider as long as the customer remains in the same geographicarea. A geographic area can include a general metropolitan area such as,for example, New York City. That is, customers remaining in the samegeographic area can maintain their telephone number from a landline,wireless, or VoIP provider.

The porting process may take anywhere from a couple hours to a coupledays. The duration of time for porting depends upon a couple factorsincluding, but not limited to, the time for a customer to initiate therequest, the complexity of the request (plurality of numbers to port),the process time of the new service provider, and the backlog of the oldservice provider. Moreover, the porting process usually requirescompleting authorization forms, which need to be faxed to the currentservice provider. Alternatively, the authorization requires access tothe Internet to submit a request to the current service provider. Whilesome service providers have customer service representatives which mayassist with the porting request, the time spent may be deducted fromavailable minutes and/or require considerable time waiting for arepresentative.

A need exists in the art for innovative methods, systems, and softwareapplications on electronic devices to help improve user experience withporting telephone numbers from/to a landline, wireless, and/or VoIPprovider.

Another need exists in the art for methods, systems, and softwareapplications to reduce the time required to complete porting from an oldservice provider to a new service provider.

Yet another need exists in the art for methods, systems, and softwareapplications on electronic devices, which inform the customer of theprogress of the porting process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing needs are met, to a great extent, by the invention, with aprocess, system, and application for porting telephone numbers throughan electronic device.

One aspect of the invention is directed to a method for improving userexperience with porting a telephone number received from a wireless,landline, or VoIP telephone service provider. For brevity, the inventionwill be described with respect to a wireless service provider but is notlimited thereto and is equally applicable to a landline or VoIP serviceprovider. In addition, the invention will be described with respect to awireless device but is not limited thereto and is equally applicable toall electronic devices being wired or wireless. The method includes astep of displaying a user interface on a display of the electronicdevice for initiating porting of a telephone number. User informationassociated with the telephone number is received via the user interface.Next, it is determined whether the telephone number is portable.Further, the telephone number is transmitted to the electronic device.

Another aspect of the invention is directed to a system for improvinguser experience with porting a telephone number to an electronic device.The electronic device includes a non-transitory memory havinginstructions stored thereon for porting the telephone number to theelectronic device. The system also includes a display for displaying auser interface having a prompt to input the telephone number. The systemfurther includes a processor that is operatively coupled to the memoryand the display. The processor is configured to perform the instructionsincluding, for example, receiving the user information via the userinterface, and determining whether the received telephone number isportable.

Yet another aspect of the invention is directed to a non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructionsfor a software application for a software application for improving userexperience with porting a telephone number to an wireless phone, whichwhen executed, causes the wireless phone to perform the following steps:display a user interface on a display of the wireless phone forinitiating porting of a telephone number; determine whether thetelephone number is portable upon receiving user information via theuser interface; and transmit the telephone number to the wireless phone.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain aspects of theinvention in order that the detailed description thereof herein may bebetter understood, and in order that the present contribution to the artmay be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional aspects ofthe invention that will be described below and which will form thesubject matter of the claims appended hereto.

In this respect, before explaining at least one aspect of the inventionin detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited inits application to the details of construction and to the arrangementsof the components set forth in the following description or illustratedin the drawings. The invention is capable of aspects or aspects inaddition to those described and of being practiced and carried out invarious ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology andterminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for thepurpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

Reference in this application to “one aspect,” “an aspect,” “one or moreaspects,” “an aspect” or the like means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the aspect isincluded in at least one aspect of the disclosure. The appearances of,for example, the phrases “an aspect” in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same aspect, norare separate or alternative aspects mutually exclusive of other aspects.Moreover, various features are described which may be exhibited by someaspects and not by the other. Similarly, various requirements aredescribed, which may be requirements for some aspects but not by otheraspects.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conceptionupon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basisfor the designing of other structures, methods, and systems for carryingout the several purposes of the invention. It is important, therefore,that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructionsinsofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to facilitate a fuller understanding of the invention,reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, in which likeelements are referenced with like numerals. These drawings should not beconstrued as limiting the invention and intended only to beillustrative.

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless device system in accordance with an aspectof the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a wireless device in accordance with an aspect of theinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an initial and subsequent screen of a wireless devicein accordance with an aspect of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a communication interface between a new serviceprovider and the original service provider for porting a telephonenumber in accordance with an aspect of the invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a tracking system for a wireless device in accordancewith an aspect of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In today's marketplace, it would be beneficial to equip an electronicdevice, such as a wireless phone, with the tools necessary toefficiently port a telephone number. Preferably, the porting may beaccomplished on the electronic device without requiring live customerservice agents or authorization forms requiring transmittal viafacsimile or the Internet. In some instances, it would be beneficial tomake porting relatively simple. This may be attributed to the originaland new service providers being one and the same. In other instances,the porting process requires more effort since the original serviceprovider is different from the new service provider. As such, anadditional, external communication step may be required to authorize thetelephone number switch from the original service provider to the newservice provider.

Generally, porting should be accomplished while the service for thetelephone number on the original service provider is still active. Inother words, the porting process cannot be completed if the originalservice is terminated. Otherwise, it is conceivable for the telephonenumber to be reassigned to another subscriber. Therefore, to ensure theporting process can port the telephone number from the original serviceprovider, the subscriber should maintain service with both the originaland new service providers. After the telephone number has been portedover to the electronic device configured with the new service provider,service with the old service provider may be cancelled.

One aspect of the invention is directed to a method, system, andapplication for improving user experience on an electronic device forporting telephone numbers.

Another aspect of the invention is directed to a system, method, andapplication for accelerating the process for porting caused by downtimeduring transmittal of authorization forms via facsimile and theInternet, or communications with live customer service representatives.

Yet another aspect of the invention is directed to a system, method, andapplication for providing a user with a tracking system offeringreal-time progress of the porting process.

It is to be understood that the system modules and method stepsdescribed in this application may be employed in various forms ofhardware, software, firmware, special purpose processors, or acombination thereof. The application preferably is directed to a processand system utilizing a software application comprising executable codethat is operably stored on one or more program storage devices includingbut not limited to a magnetic floppy disk, RAM, ROM, CD ROM, and/orFlash memory.

In aspects including a “wireless network”, the network may encompass anytype of wireless network from which a Mobile Virtual Network Operator(MVNO) contracts with a Mobile Network Operator (MNO) wireless carrierto provide mobile phone services through the use of an electronicdevice, such as the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM)network, Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network or the like, thatmay utilize the teachings of the present application to allow a wirelessdevice to connect to a wireless network. The network may income is apost-paid wireless carrier or Mobile Network Operators (MNO) thatmaintains and controls their own wireless networks. Namely, an MNOheavily relies on backend systems to address any provisional, billing,security, and data issues that might threaten the health of theirnetworks.

In one aspect of the invention, there is described a method forimproving user experience with porting a telephone number to anelectronic device. Porting may be initiated independent of, concurrentlywith, or after, activation of an electronic device. That is, porting maybe initiated via a porting application 255 that is separate from anactivation software application 286. By so doing, any delays incompleting the activation process of the electronic device are reducedand/or eliminated as well delays in porting a telephone number over froma previous service provider due to waiting until activation is complete.

The present application describes porting of any type of telephonenumber or quantity of telephone numbers over to the electronic device.Specifically, the telephone number could be ported over from anelectronic device such as a landline telephone, a platform employingVoIP including but not limited to a tablet, laptop, desktop computer, orsmartphone, or a non-smartphone. The telephone number can also be portedto an electronic device including but not limited to a landline, tablet,laptop, desktop computer, smartphone, or non-smartphone. In a particularaspect, the electronic device initiating the porting should have amemory and be capable of communicating on a communication channel asdiscussed in more detail below.

Activation Process

Prior to fully explaining the aspects of the invention regarding thetechnique of porting a telephone number to the electronic device, theprocess of activating an electronic device will be described. In thisapplication, the terms provisioned and activated may interchangeably beemployed as known to those of ordinary skill. In one aspect, there isdisclosed a wireless device provisioning system 10 as illustrated inFIG. 1. The wireless device provisioning system 10 may be used toactivate services on a wireless device 14. Wireless services can beactivated through the wireless device provisioning system 10 to activateservices for the wireless device 14 without requiring access to anagent, website, or wireless/landline telephone system. In one or moreaspects, the activated services may include initial activation, e.g.,“Out of the Box Activation,” device upgrades, device reactivations, andwireless number porting of the wireless device 14 is described in U.S.Pat. No. 8,107,953, issued Jan. 31, 2012 and entitled SYSTEM AND METHODFOR ACTIVATING SERVICES ON A WIRELESS DEVICE, incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

In one aspect, the wireless device 14 prompts a user 12 to enter anactivation code (or codes) into an inactive wireless device 14. Forexample, the activation code should be easy to input and to remember,such as, for example, but without limitation, a 5 digit zip code, atelephone number, a personal identification number (PIN), or anothercode. In addition, an option may exist to detect the zip code based upona global navigation satellite system (GNSS) location. Alternatively, anairport name or code may be entered if the user is travelling abroad orif a foreigner is travelling in the United States. In another aspect,the wireless device 14 may automatically retrieve device-relatedinformation, such as but not limited to, a serial number for thewireless device 14 and a serial number for a subscriber identity module(SIM) card if installed in the wireless device 14.

The activation code is preferably short in length in comparison toserial numbers for the wireless device 14 and the SIM card so that theactivation code(s) can easily be entered into the wireless device 14with only a small number of characters or digits to enter, therebyproviding a quick and efficient manner of obtaining relevant informationfrom the user and the wireless device 14 while further minimizing theopportunity for a user to enter incorrect information.

The wireless device 14 then may generate an activation message that atleast includes the activation code(s) input by the user and theautomatically retrieved device-related information, where the activationmessage is transmitted over a provisioning channel 15 provided over awireless carrier network 16 that is available to inactive orunprovisioned wireless devices 14. In one or more aspects, theprovisioning channel 15 may be a data messaging channel, such as anUnstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) channel, a Short MessageService (SMS) messaging channel or a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)messaging channel. The activation message may be delivered across thewireless carrier network 16 to a remote site for use in activatingservices on the wireless device 14. The wireless carrier network 16 mayreceive the activation message via a the provisioning channel 15 andthen forwards in real time the activation message to a subscriberprovisioning system 22 operated by a service provider for the activationof services for the wireless device 14. In one or more aspects, theservices requested to be activated include at least one an initial “outof the box” activation of wireless services of an unprovisioned wirelessdevice 14 or device upgrades, device reactivations, wireless numberchanges, the addition or purchasing of services including airtime,enrollments or content, and wireless number porting for wireless devices14 that have previously been activated or provisioned. The wirelesscarrier network 16 is connected to a wireless carrier system 18 thatforwards the activation message to the subscriber provisioning system22, either directly or through a destination system 20 connected to thesubscriber provisioning system 22, to initiate service activation and/orprovisioning of the wireless device 14.

Porting Process

In another aspect, an airtime card may be preloaded in the SIM card forpurposes of activating the wireless device. The number of days providedwith the SIM card can range anywhere from 1 day to 365 days. Namely, aslow as 1 day may be included with the SIM card to activate the wirelessdevice. Additional airtime days may be provided for marketing purposesin order to attract customers.

A description of the porting process for a telephone number will bedescribed below. In one or more aspects of the invention, the wirelessdevice 14, either in a provisioned or unprovisioned state, is capable ofinitiating porting of a telephone number. In one aspect, porting isaccomplished independent of activating an unprovisioned wireless device14 via the provisioning channel 15. By so doing, porting canindependently be initiated and performed without having to wait untilcompletion of the activation step. If porting is completed beforeactivation, the telephone number can be held in a “waiting” state. Theported telephone numbers is ready to operate on the wireless device 14after activation is complete. The provisioning channel may, for example,be an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) channel, a ShortMessage Service (SMS) messaging channel, a Wireless Application Protocol(WAP) messaging channel, or the like.

In another aspect, porting can occur after activation. In this case, theprovisioned wireless device 14 operates on the wireless carrier network16 associated with the SIM Card that is installed therein. In oneaspect, the porting process is performed via the wireless carriernetwork 16. In another aspect, the porting process is performed via theprovisioning channel. The latter may be preferred to ensure no datacharges are incurred by the user. Either option will result in thetelephone number being ported onto the wireless device 14 having a SIMcard associated with a specific service provider.

The wireless device 14 employing the porting process will be describedin reference to FIG. 2. The wireless device 204 may be provisioned orunprovisioned. The wireless device 204 includes a memory 216. Thewireless device 204 may further include an operating system 248, acommunication component 250, a contact/motion component 252, a graphicscomponent 254, and the like. The operating system 248 together with thevarious components provides software functionality for each of thecomponents of the wireless device 204. The memory 216 may include ahigh-speed, random-access memory. Also, the memory 216 may be anon-volatile memory, such as magnetic fixed disk storage, flash memoryor the like. These various components may be connected through variouscommunication lines including a data bus 270. The memory 216 may alsostore device related information including but not limited to a deviceserial number, such as, for example, an International Mobile EquipmentIdentify (IMEI), an Electronic Serial Number (ESN), or Mobile EquipmentIdentifier (MEID).

In another aspect of the invention, the memory 216 of a wireless device204 includes a database for storing user information. The userinformation may include further information as required by the serviceprovider and may include information such as full name, address, date ofbirth, telephone number, service provider associated with the serviceprovider, email address, contact number, credit card information, andthe like. In one aspect, the database may include security questions. Inanother aspect, the database may include user specified preferences. Inyet another aspect, a digital signature can be entered by a user via atouch-sensitive screen of the wireless device 204. This may be necessaryin case the service provider requires a signature of the user toinitiate the porting process.

The wireless device 204 may also include a SIM card 284 having a memory282. The memory 282 stores the SIM card serial number, such as, forexample, an integrated Circuit Card ID (ICCID). The SIM card memory 282may store an activation software application 286 for initiatingactivation of services on the wireless device 204. The SIM card memory282 can be implemented in an external or internal machine-readablemedium, which may be any mechanism that provides (i.e., stores and/ortransmits) information in a form readable by the processor 214. Forexample, the machine-readable medium may be a read only memory (ROM), arandom access memory (RAM), a cache, a hard disk drive, a portablestorage media, an optical storage media, a flash memory device, or anyother memory device capable of storing information. The SIM card memorymay be used to store, arrange, and retrieve data. The SIM card memory282 may provide instructions, which when read by processor, cause theprocessor 214 to perform operations for initiating activation and/orporting of services on the wireless device 204. It should be noted thatthe wireless device 204 may also be implemented without a SIM card 284and the functionality of the SIM card 284 may simply be implemented atleast in part by other components of the wireless device 204.

The wireless device 204 also includes a processor 214 which may be acentral processing unit configured to execute instructions, such as, forexample, instructions related to software programs. Any processor can beused for the electronic device as understood by those of ordinary skillin the art. The processor 214 may be coupled to the user interface 222,the SIM card 284, and the memory 216. The processor may be configured tocollect the activation code discussed above in addition to SIM cardserial number and wireless device serial numbers. In another aspect, theprocessor 214 is automatically capable of obtaining the serial numbersof the device and the SIM card. The display 218 may be a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD). Preferably, the LCD includes a backlight to illuminatethe various color liquid crystals to provide a more colorful display.The user interface 222 may be any type of physical input as readilyemployed in the field. For example, the user interface may have physicalbuttons. Alternatively, the user interface may be implemented on atouchscreen 280. Additionally, the wireless device 204 includes a powersupply 258.

The wireless device 204 may include an audio input/output device 256.The audio input/output device 256 may include speakers, speaker outputs,microphones, microphone inputs, and the like, for receiving and sendingsound inputs. In an exemplary aspect, the audio input/output device 256may include an analog to digital converter and a digital to audioconverter for audio input and output functions respectively.

In another aspect, the wireless device 204 may include a transceiver220. The wireless device 204 may provide radio and signal processing asneeded to access a network for services. The processor 214 may beconfigured to process call functions, data transfer, and the like andprovide other services to the user.

In an exemplary aspect, the touchscreen 280 of the invention may beimplemented in the display 218 and may detect a presence and location ofa touch of a user within the display area. For example, touching thedisplay 218 of the wireless device 204 with a finger or hand. Thetouchscreen 280 may also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus.The wireless device 204 may further include a touch screen controller260.

In operation, the display 218 may show various objects 290 associatedwith applications for execution by the processor 214. For example, auser may touch the display 218, particularly the touchscreen 280, tointeract with the objects 290. That is, touching an object 290 mayexecute an application in the processor 214 associated with the object290 that is stored in memory 216. Additionally or alternatively,touching an object 290 may open a menu of options to be selected by theuser. The display 218 may include a plurality of objects 290 for theuser to interact with. Moreover, the display 218 may include a pluralityof screens. The display 218 showing one screen at a time. The user mayinteract with the display 218 to move a screen into view on the display218. Various objects 290 may be located in each of the screens.

The touchscreen 280 may have different attributes. The touchscreen 280may be implemented as a resistive touchscreen, a surface acoustic wavetouch screen, a capacitive touch screen, a surface capacitancetouchscreen, projected capacitive touch screen, self-capacitancesensors, infrared sensors, dispersive signal technology, acoustic pulserecognition, or the like.

The display 218 is generally configured to display a graphical userinterface (GUI) 222 that provides an easy to use visual interfacebetween a user of the wireless device 204 and the operating system orapplication(s) running on the wireless device 204. Generally, the GUIpresents programs, files, and operational options with graphical images.During operation, the user may select and activate various graphicalimages, which appear on the display 218 in order to initiate functionsand tasks associated therewith.

In another aspect of the invention, the wireless device 204 isconfigured to display a user interface of the porting application 255for porting a telephone number on a display 218. The interface caninclude prompts for inputting user information to determine whetherporting can be accomplished. Namely, a telephone number from a differentgeographical region may likely not be portable. The user interface alsoincludes prompts for inputting additional information, such as, forexample, name on account, billing address of account, account number,service providers, etc. for completing the porting process when theservice provider associated with the telephone number is different fromthe service provider requesting the porting.

According to another aspect of the invention, as shown in FIG. 3, thereis illustrated a first screen 300 having a user interface 222 of adisplay 218 which includes a prompt for inputting user information forpurposes of porting a telephone number. For example, the prompt mayrequest inputting a telephone number. Upon receiving the telephonenumber, the porting application 255, that may be stored in the SIM Cardmemory 282, determines whether the telephone number is associated withthe same service provider for the wireless device 204. The determiningstep requires the application to contact the wireless carrier system 18via the wireless carrier network 16 to assess whether the telephonenumber is associated with the service provider associated with thewireless device 204 and/or SIM card 24. If the porting application 255confirms that the service provider is the same, porting may beautomatically initiated. The benefit attributed to this aspect is nothaving to obtain and wait for authorization for the porting process.

In an alternative aspect, the porting application 255 asks subsequentquestions to verify the identity of the user and ensure that thetelephone number wishing to be ported over to the new service provideris accurate. Subsequent questions may include but are not limited to thename, service provider, account number, billing address and password (ifapplicable) as shown in the subsequent screen 350.

As a preliminary or secondary step, the porting application 255 maydetermine whether the telephone number can be ported to the wirelessdevice 204. That is, the application to 55 determines a geographic areaassociated with the telephone number and compares it with the geographicarea associated with the wireless device 204 and/or SIM card 284. If thetelephone number is determined to be portable, the application mayautomatically proceed to the subsequent screen 350 as discussed above.

If, on the other hand, the porting application 255 determines that thetelephone number is not within the same or surrounding geographic areaof the wireless device 204 and/or the SIM card 284, the application maysend a communication to the display of the wireless device 204 informingthe user that porting cannot be accomplished. Alternatively, acommunication may be sent directly to the service provider's customerservice department. In turn, the customer service department may contactthe subscriber using any known communication mediums discussed above toinvestigate the matter in more detail.

In another aspect, the porting application 255 may determine that theinputted telephone number is not associated with the instant serviceprovider. In this scenario, the porting application 255 also may requestthe name of the service provider as shown in subsequent screen 350. Theapplication, if the wireless device 204 is nonprovisioned, may submit arequest through a USSD channel. Alternatively, the application to 55 maysubmit the request directly via the wireless carrier network 16, ifprovisioned, to the wireless carrier system 18. The wireless carriersystem 18, in turn, communicates via the Internet with a system 30associated with the service provider for the telephone number to beported.

One of two scenarios may transpire. If the system 30 presentlyassociated with the telephone number confirms its existence on thewireless network, system 30 may authorize transmittal of the telephonenumber to the requesting service provider. On the other hand, the system30 after checking its system indicates that the telephone number is notassociated with its wireless network. A communication may be sentthrough the Internet from system 30 to the requesting wireless carriersystem.

The requesting system 30 receives the reply. The time period forreceiving the reply varies anywhere from a couple minutes to a coupledays. The time period is much shorter than the conventionalcommunication channels whereby the subscriber communicates its requestvia the Internet or through a customer service agent. This is attributedto both the wireless carrier system 18 and the system 30 directlycommunicating with each other via a network such as the Internet basedupon predetermined algorithms without having to pass through portals oneach other's networks.

If the telephone number is not associated with the inputted serviceprovider, the requesting system 30 may automatically send the reply viathe porting application 255 to the display of the wireless device 204.By so doing, the user can verify the account number input on thesubsequent screen 350 via the user interface. The user also may have theopportunity to try again. In an alternative aspect, the user may begiven a couple attempts before the application is locked out. Forexample, two, three, or more attempts may be offered to the user beforethe application is locked out. This prevents unnecessary, continuous useof the network when there are multiple failed attempts.

If the number is verified by the system 30 as belonging to its network,the authorization is sent to the wireless carrier system 18, which inturn transmits the authorization to the subscriber provisioning system22. That is, subscriber provisioning system 22 may be configured tooperate as both a provisioning and activation system. The subscriberprovisioning system 22 may confirm that the telephone number may beassociated with the wireless device 204 having the SIM card 284. Thedecision may be sent via subscriber provisioning system 22 to thewireless network. Thereafter, calls placed to the wireless device 204can be answered.

In yet a further aspect of the invention, the porting application 255may be configured to provide a status of the porting process to theservice provider as shown in FIG. 5. The status allows the user to knowhow much time remains before porting is complete. For example, as shownin FIG. 5, the home screen 500 indicates that 60% of the porting iscomplete. The tracking process preferably indicates percentages ofcompletion in multiples of ten, including but not limited to, 10%, 20%,30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% and 100%. Alternatively, any othertype of indication may be utilized as well including minutes, hours,days or the like. The home screen also may provide a real-time status ofa status of the porting process. For example, home screen 500 indicatesthat porting is currently with Acme Company, e.g., service providerassociated with the telephone number. The next step would be for AcmeCompany to confirm the existence of the telephone number and authorizeporting to the requesting service provider. Alternatively, Acme Companycould identify the telephone number as not being associated with, e.g.,foreign, to its wireless network. The present tracking system is similarin theory to a package delivery tracking system, which can be employedfor porting purposes.

In yet a further aspect, the porting application 255 can provide atemporary line number while the user's existing number is being ported.The temporary line number is generally received after activation. In oneaspect, voice messages and/or SMS messages to the user's telephonenumber are queued, and ultimately delivered to the user once thetelephone number is migrated or ported over to the new wireless device.

In yet even a further aspect of the invention, the software applicationis configured to receive authorization from the user via the userinterface to communicate directly with the old service provider tocancel services. This alleviates the user from having to contact the oldservice provider, which can often be an uncomfortable experience. Thenew service provider may receive authorization via the digital signaturedescribed above. Accordingly, the new service provider obtainsauthorization to act on the user's behalf for the purpose of terminatingservices with the old service provider. Termination of services shouldbe done only after the telephone number has been properly migrated overto the new device and service provider.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is disclosed asystem including a display, a non-transitory memory for storinginstruction for porting, and a processor configured to execute theinstructions. The system may be an electronic device, such as, forexample, a wireless device. In one aspect, the system is a wirelessdevice is a smartphone, a tablet, or a personal digital assistant. Thesystem includes a non-transitory memory having instructions storedthereon for porting the telephone number to the electronic device. Thenon-transitory memory is configured to store user information selectedfrom customer name, billing address, service provider, account number,email address, passwords, and combinations thereof.

The display is configured to display a user interface having a prompt toinput a telephone number. The processor is operatively coupled to thememory and the display. The processor configured to perform theinstructions including: receiving the user information via the userinterface; and determining whether the received telephone number isportable. In another aspect, the processor is configured perform theinstructions of requesting a service provider associated with thetelephone number to transmit the telephone number to the electronicdevice; and transmitting the telephone number to the electronic device.In another aspect, the processor is configured to perform theinstructions of forwarding a telephone call placed to the telephonenumber during the transmitting step to a temporary telephone numberassociated with the electronic device. In yet another aspect, theprocessor is configured to perform the instructions of displaying astatus of the porting process. In yet even a further aspect, theprocessor is configured to perform the instructions of sending a requestvia the user interface to cancel telephone service with the serviceprovider after the transmitting step.

In yet a further aspect of the invention, there is disclosed anon-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable medium. The terms“computer-readable medium” and “processor-readable medium” include asingle medium or multiple media, such as a centralized or distributeddatabase, and/or associated caches and servers that store one or moresets of instructions. The terms “computer-readable medium” and“processor-readable medium” also include any medium that is capable ofstoring a set of instructions for execution by a processor or that causea computer system to perform any one or more of the methods oroperations disclosed herein.

The non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable mediumincludes instructions stored thereon for a software application forimproving user experience with porting a telephone number to an wirelessphone, which when executed, causes the wireless phone to perform thefollowing steps: (i) displaying a user interface on a display of thewireless phone for initiating porting of a telephone number; (ii)determining whether the telephone number is portable upon receiving userinformation via the user interface; and (iii) transmitting the telephonenumber to the wireless phone. In an exemplary aspect, the code orinstruction of the software program is executable by a processor of theSIM or electronic device in machine readable form.

In one or more aspects, the actions and/or events of a method,algorithm, or module may reside as one or any combination or set ofcodes and/or instructions on a computer readable medium or machinereadable medium, which may be incorporated into a computer programproduct. Computer readable storage media includes, but is not limitedto, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other solid state memorytechnology, optical storage media, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any otherphysical or material medium which can be used to tangibly store thedesired information or data or instructions and which can be accessed bya processor or computing device.

Aspects of the disclosure may include communication channels that may beany type of wired or wireless electronic communications network, suchas, e.g., a wired/wireless local area network (LAN), a wired/wirelesspersonal area network (PAN), a wired/wireless home area network (HAN), awired/wireless wide area network (WAN), a campus network, a metropolitannetwork, an enterprise private network, a virtual private network (VPN),an internetwork, a backbone network (BBN), a global area network (GAN),the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, an overlay network, Near fieldcommunication (NFC), a cellular telephone network, a PersonalCommunications Service (PCS), using known protocols such as the GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM), CDMA (Code-Division MultipleAccess), GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network technologies, Long TermEvolution (LTE), 5G (5th generation mobile networks or 5th generationwireless systems), WiMAX, HSPA+, W-CDMA (Wideband Code-Division MultipleAccess), CDMA2000 (also known as C2K or IMT Multi-Carrier (IMT-MC)),Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, and/or the like, and/or acombination of two or more thereof. The NFC standards covercommunications protocols and data exchange formats, and are based onexisting radio-frequency identification (RFID) standards includingISO/IEC 14443 and FeliCa. The standards include ISO/IEC 18092[3] andthose defined by the NFC Forum.

Additionally, the various aspects of the disclosure may be implementedin a non-generic computer implementation. Moreover, the various aspectsof the disclosure set forth herein improve the functioning of the systemas is apparent from the disclosure hereof. Furthermore, the variousaspects of the disclosure involve computer hardware that it specificallyprogrammed to solve the complex problem addressed by the disclosure.Accordingly, the various aspects of the disclosure improve thefunctioning of the system overall in its specific implementation toperform the process set forth by the disclosure and as defined by theclaims.

According to an example, the global navigation satellite system (GNSS)may include a device and/or system that may estimate its location based,at least in part, on signals received from space vehicles (SVs). Inparticular, such a device and/or system may obtain “pseudorange”measurements including approximations of distances between associatedSVs and a navigation satellite receiver. In a particular example, such apseudorange may be determined at a receiver that is capable ofprocessing signals from one or more SVs as part of a SatellitePositioning System (SPS). Such an SPS may comprise, for example, aGlobal Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, Glonass, to name a few, or anySPS developed in the future. To determine its location, a satellitenavigation receiver may obtain pseudorange measurements to three or moresatellites as well as their positions at time of transmitting. Knowingthe SV orbital parameters, these positions can be calculated for anypoint in time. A pseudorange measurement may then be determined based,at least in part, on the time a signal travels from an SV to thereceiver, multiplied by the speed of light. While techniques describedherein may be provided as implementations of location determination inGPS and/or Galileo types of SPS as specific illustrations according toparticular examples, it should be understood that these techniques mayalso apply to other types of SPS, and that claimed subject matter is notlimited in this respect.

Aspects of the disclosure may include a server executing an instance ofan application or software configured to accept requests from a clientand giving responses accordingly. The server may run on any computerincluding dedicated computers. The computer may include at least oneprocessing element, typically a central processing unit (CPU), and someform of memory. The processing element may carry out arithmetic andlogic operations, and a sequencing and control unit may change the orderof operations in response to stored information. The server may includeperipheral devices that may allow information to be retrieved from anexternal source, and the result of operations saved and retrieved. Theserver may operate within a client-server architecture. The server mayperform some tasks on behalf of clients. The clients may connect to theserver through the network on a communication channel as defined herein.The server may use memory with error detection and correction, redundantdisks, redundant power supplies and so on.

While the system and method have been described in terms of what arepresently considered to be specific aspects, the disclosure need not belimited to the disclosed aspects. It is intended to cover variousmodifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similarstructures. The present disclosure includes any and all aspects of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for porting a telephone numbercomprising: displaying a user interface on a display of a mobileelectronic communication device having a processor in response toexecution of a porting application by the processor for initiatingporting of the telephone number that includes a request for userinformation; receiving the user information associated with thetelephone number via the user interface generated by the portingapplication; transmitting the user information from the mobileelectronic communication device along with a request to port thetelephone number to the mobile electronic communication device with theporting application; requesting a service provider associated with thetelephone number to port the telephone number to the mobile electroniccommunication device; receiving information on whether the telephonenumber is portable or not based on at least a geographic area beingassociated with the telephone number and the mobile electroniccommunication device; displaying information on the user interface ofthe display indicating whether the telephone number is portable or not;displaying a real-time status of a porting process on the user interfaceof the display generated by the porting application after thetransmitting, the porting application obtaining the real-time status,the real-time status comprising at least one of the following: areal-time percentage of completion of the porting process and areal-time remaining amount of time until completion of the portingprocess; receiving confirmation that the telephone number has beenported; and updating the mobile electronic communication device toutilize the telephone number, wherein the user interface displays aprompt for inputting the telephone number; wherein the transmittingcomprises transmitting the user information from the mobile electroniccommunication device on a provisioning channel; wherein the provisioningchannel comprises at least one of the following: an UnstructuredSupplementary Service Data (USSD) channel, a Short Message Service (SMS)messaging channel and a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) messagingchannel; and wherein the user information is selected from at least oneof the following: customer name, customer billing address, serviceprovider, account number, telephone number, email address, and password.2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising providing atemporary phone number while the telephone number is being ported. 3.The method according to claim 1, wherein the user interface displays aprompt for inputting a digital signature.
 4. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising: sending a request after the transmitting tocancel telephone service with a service provider associated with thetelephone number via the user interface.
 5. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the method is performed during activation of the mobileelectronic communication device.
 6. The method according to claim 1,wherein the method is implemented by the mobile electronic communicationdevice with the porting application; wherein the porting application isstored on a subscriber identity module (SIM) card; and wherein the userinterface for porting the telephone number is automatically displayed onthe mobile electronic communication device.
 7. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the mobile electronic communication device is awireless phone.
 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mobileelectronic communication device is a pre-paid phone operating on amobile virtual network.
 9. A non-transitory tangible computer readablestorage medium storing computer-readable instructions for a portingapplication for porting a telephone number to a wireless phone, whichwhen executed, causes a processor of the wireless phone to executeinstructions, the computer readable storage medium including a portingapplication, and the porting application comprising: instructions fordisplaying a user interface on a display of a mobile electroniccommunication device for initiating porting of the telephone number thatincludes a request for user information; instructions for receiving theuser information associated with the telephone number via the userinterface; instructions for requesting a service provider associatedwith the telephone number to port the telephone number to the mobileelectronic communication device; instructions for receiving informationon whether the telephone number is portable or not based on at least ageographic area being associated with the telephone number and themobile electronic communication device; instructions for displayinginformation on the user interface of the display indicating whether thetelephone number is portable or not; instructions for transmitting theuser information from the mobile electronic communication device alongwith a request to port the telephone number to the mobile electroniccommunication device; instructions for displaying a real-time status ofa porting process on the user interface of the display after thetransmitting, the real-time status comprising at least one of thefollowing: a real-time percentage of completion of the porting processand a real-time remaining amount of time until completion of the portingprocess; instructions for receiving confirmation that the telephonenumber has been ported; and instructions for updating the mobileelectronic communication device to utilize the telephone number, whereinthe user interface displays a prompt for inputting the telephone number;wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting the user informationfrom the mobile electronic communication device on a provisioningchannel; wherein the provisioning channel comprises at least one of thefollowing: an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) channel, aShort Message Service (SMS) messaging channel and a Wireless ApplicationProtocol (WAP) messaging channel; and wherein the user information isselected from at least one of the following: customer name, customerbilling address, service provider, account number, telephone number,email address, password and combinations thereof.
 10. The computerreadable storage medium according to claim 9, further comprisinginstructions for providing a temporary phone number while the telephonenumber is being ported.
 11. The computer readable storage mediumaccording to claim 9, wherein the user interface displays a prompt forinputting a digital signature.
 12. The computer readable storage mediumaccording to claim 9, further comprising: sending a request after thetransmitting to cancel telephone service with a service providerassociated with the telephone number via the user interface.
 13. Thecomputer readable storage medium according to claim 9 wherein theporting is performed during activation of the mobile electroniccommunication device.
 14. The computer readable storage medium accordingto claim 9 wherein at least one of the instructions is implemented bythe mobile electronic communication device with the porting application;wherein the porting application is stored on a subscriber identitymodule (SIM) card; and wherein the user interface for porting thetelephone number is automatically displayed on the mobile electroniccommunication device.
 15. The computer readable storage medium accordingto claim 9 wherein the wireless phone is a pre-paid phone operating on amobile virtual network.
 16. A method for porting a telephone numbercomprising: receiving transmitted user information from a mobileelectronic communication device along with a request to port thetelephone number to the mobile electronic communication device with aporting application, the user information associated with the telephonenumber being received via a user interface generated by the portingapplication on a display of the mobile electronic communication devicefor initiating porting of the telephone number that includes a requestfor user information; requesting a service provider associated with thetelephone number to port the telephone number to the mobile electroniccommunication device; transmitting to the mobile electroniccommunication device information on whether the telephone number isportable or not based on at least a geographic area being associatedwith the telephone number for display on the user interface to indicatewhether the telephone number is portable or not; transmitting to themobile electronic communication device a real-time status of a portingprocess for display on the user interface of the display generated bythe porting application, the porting application displaying thereal-time status on the display, the real-time status comprising atleast one of the following: a real-time percentage of completion of theporting process and a real-time remaining amount of time untilcompletion of the porting process; receiving confirmation that thetelephone number has been ported; and updating the mobile electroniccommunication device to utilize the telephone number, wherein the userinterface displays a prompt for inputting the telephone number; whereinthe receiving the transmitted user information comprises receiving theuser information from the mobile electronic communication device on aprovisioning channel; wherein the provisioning channel comprises atleast one of the following: an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data(USSD) channel, a Short Message Service (SMS) messaging channel and aWireless Application Protocol (WAP) messaging channel; and wherein theuser information is selected from at least one of the following:customer name, customer billing address, service provider, accountnumber, telephone number, email address, and password.
 17. The methodaccording to claim 16, further comprising providing a temporary phonenumber while the telephone number is being ported.
 18. The methodaccording to claim 16, further comprising receiving a digital signature.19. The method according to claim 16, further comprising sending arequest to cancel telephone service with a service provider associatedwith the telephone number via the user interface.
 20. The methodaccording to claim 16, wherein the mobile electronic communicationdevice is a pre-paid wireless phone operating on a mobile virtualnetwork.